


To Want of Honesty

by Mara



Category: Kamen Rider Drive
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3153194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kiriko plus pain medication equals Shinnosuke learning a few things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Want of Honesty

**Author's Note:**

> Why is Kiriko not Drive? This probably isn't the reason the show will give, but it's my head canon.

Shinnosuke was _not_ freaking out. Absolutely not. It was completely unreasonable of that nurse to threaten him with sedatives when he was absolutely not freaking out.

Why would he be freaking out _sitting by Kiriko's bedside in the hospital_ , after all? He took several slow deep breaths and his heart rate dropped to something approaching normal.

"She will be fine," Mr. Belt said for the millionth time. "It's just observation until the painkillers wear off."

"I know!" Several more deep breaths. Maybe the sedatives weren't a bad idea.

Kiriko stirred. "Shinnosuke?" she murmured.

"Yeah. Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

"Not totally awake." It was true. Her eyes were still closed and her voice was slurred. Obviously the painkillers were mostly in control for the moment.

"You should rest more," Mr. Belt said.

"Mmm."

Shinnosuke leaned back in the chair, watching her chest rise and fall before realizing how creepy it was to be staring at her chest and shifting his gaze to her face.

"I'm okay," she said, eyes still closed.

He jumped. "What?"

"Not badly hurt. And it wasn't your fault."

He felt his face get warm. Even with her eyes closed, she could still read him better than anyone else. "I know," he said eventually.

"Stop worrying then."

"I'm not worrying!"

"I can feel you worrying from here." She finally opened her eyes but they weren't focusing properly.

Scowling, Shinnosuke crossed his arms, refusing to descend into a childish argument with the injured and drugged woman.

She blinked a few times at him, her gaze dropping to Mr. Belt in his lap. "And you're a hypocrite."

"What?" Shinnosuke said.

"Not you. Him."

Mr. Belt made a sound almost like an embarrassed cough. "Perhaps this isn't the time to—"

"A hypocrite," she said again.

Shinnosuke froze, torn between conflicting impulses to get her to explain and to stop her from saying things she wouldn't say normally. "I..." he managed, his voice sounding strangled.

"Say you want the best but..."

"But what?" Shinnosuke couldn't help himself.

"Shinnosuke!" Mr. Belt said, sounding irritated.

"But can't be a woman. No matter how good."

Shinnosuke blinked a few times, trying to parse those sentences. He was pretty sure Kiriko was a woman. Fairly sure at least. It was always possible that she—oh! He looked down at Mr. Belt. "Drive can't be a woman?"

"Er...no."

"Tied it to the Y chromosome," Kiriko said, managing a credible glare for someone whose head kept lolling to the side.

"It was an accident," Mr. Belt said, sounding extremely defensive for an electronic voice coming out of a belt. "I was in a hurry."

"Hmmph." Kiriko's eyes drifted closed again.

Shinnosuke stared down at Mr. Belt. "You could have had _Kiriko_!" he said.

"You've become an excellent Drive." Now Mr. Belt sounded prim and annoyed.

"But..." Shinnosuke waved a flailing hand at the bed. "Kiriko!"

"You're doin' okay," Kiriko said, barely moving her lips. "Better than I thought."

Shinnosuke stopped breathing. He knew he should stop her, but... 

"You're the better 'tective. More intuitive."

At that point, he strongly suspected his heart stopped for a moment. "But you're..." Swallowing, he wondered if she was going to remember any of this in the morning and devoutly hoped the answer was no. "You're so much stronger and more dedicated and...you."

"I wish I was Drive, but...we're a good team." Smiling gently, her eyes drifted closed again.

Shinnosuke stared at her for a long time, Mr. Belt thankfully choosing to stay silent. "Yeah," he said eventually. "We're a great team."

Shinnosuke and Mr. Belt stayed by her side all night as each of the Shift Cars came to check on Kiriko's condition.

As the sun rose, Kiriko stirred, her eyes finally opening properly when a nurse bustled in to take her blood pressure and temperature. "Everything looks fine," the nurse said. "If your pain is under control, I'll go talk to the doctor about releasing you."

"Thank you," Kiriko said, bowing her head slightly.

Shinnosuke knew he should stop staring as Kiriko carefully pushed herself up to sitting and tested various limbs, but...her hair was down and she looked so different. Almost relaxed, even with the drugs mostly out of her system.

Not looking up, Kiriko said "You weren't worrying about me, hmm?"

He froze. "No." Wait, that sounded wrong. "I mean, yes. I mean—"

The tiniest of smiles graced her mouth for a moment. "I understand."

"Oh. Good."

Pushing the blankets aside, Kiriko swung her legs over the side of the bed, carefully putting her feet on the floor. Shinnosuke held his breath, afraid she might fall, but even more afraid of offending her if he tried to help. 

For a long moment, she looked down at the floor, before turning to him. "If you help me to the bathroom, I think I can manage to get dressed."

Shinnosuke smiled happily at her. "Okay."

"After all, we're a team, right?"

There was a muffled snicker from Mr. Belt and Shinnosuke "accidentally" smacked him into the arm of the chair as he leaped to help Kiriko. "Yeah, we're a team."

About to close the door to the bathroom, Kiriko turned back. "But Mr. Belt...you're still a hypocrite."

Shinnosuke laughed so hard he had to sit back down, while Mr. Belt growled in annoyance.

\--end--


End file.
